Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Socrates' ideal city, poets and soothsayers:(a) Would be considered useless and expelled. (b) Would be rich while the workers would be poor. (c) Would lead religious ceremonies. (d) Would not be allowed to speak falsely about the gods.

2. Though Glaucon is primarily concerned about justice within the individual, Socrates first begins by analyzing __________.(a) Glaucon's own virtue. (b) Justice as it relates to an entire city's population. (c) Virtue as it is demanded of the city's leaders. (d) Justice as it relates to a small family.

3. Where is wisdom found in Socrates' ideal republic?(a) In the slaves who labor in it. (b) In those who rule and order it. (c) In Socrates, and others like him. (d) In the moral law.

4. In order to respond to Glaucon's objections, Socrates ___________________.(a) Changes the subject completely. (b) Tries to find justice in animals before finding justice in humans. (c) Posits an ideal city so that he might discover where justice comes from. (d) Analogizes justice to fine skills like woodworking and carpentry.

5. Socrates argues that laws are___________.(a) Misguided because no one law holds true categorically. (b) Affected by the flow of everyday life, and thus should not be formulated individually. (c) Rigid and static, unlike the people they control. (d) Worthy formal pursuits.

Short Answer Questions

1. When first asked by Socrates to define virtue, Meno responds with which of the following?

2. How are leaders chosen in Socrates' ideal republic?

3. Which of the following does Socrates reason about Ion?

4. Socrates claims that he learned about love from which of the following?

5. The common man is not concerned with beauty itself, but ___________.

Short Essay Questions

1. Where, according to Socrates, does virtue reside? How does virtue relate to the dichotomy of opinion and knowledge?

2. How should soldiers, according to Socrates, be trained in the ideal republic?

3. How is Meno an example of indirect teaching? How does Plato corroborate his own theory of learning as recollection?

4. Why is Meno's definition of virtue unsatisfactory for Socrates?

5. How does Socrates plan to prevent the rulers from becoming tyrants?

6. What does Glaucon argue for?

7. How does Socrates distinguish knowledge known through art from knowledge known through inspiration?

8. What is the purpose of Alcibiades late-night intrusion into the Symposium? What does he talk about?

9. Whom does Socrates think is to be chosen to rule the city and why?

10. How does Socrates use metaphors to explain Ion's inspiration? How does this relate to the practice of art or philosophy?